Miramax Home Entertainment
Background: Miramax Home Entertainment was the home entertainment division of Miramax Films, formed in early 1992 as Miramax Home Video after years of having their films released by several home video distributors including HBO Video, Media Home Entertainment (through Fox Video) and LIVE Entertainment. The same year, Miramax struck a deal with Paramount Home Video to have them release their films on VHS (Paramount still owns the video rights to some of these films). After Disney bought out the company in 1993, Miramax's video releases were distributed briefly by Touchstone Home Video through Buena Vista Home Video. Miramax ended up releasing videos under its own label in the mid-1990s, with Buena Vista distributing. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment distributed Miramax products from 2007-2010 (after the company's founders and CEOs, the Weinstein brothers, left two years earlier). In December 2010, Miramax was sold by Disney to Filmyard Holdings, LLC, a division of Colony Capital. In February 2011, they entered a home video agreement with Lionsgate Home Entertainment and StudioCanal to distribute more than 550 titles from the renowned Miramax film library on DVD, and later that month, they made a deal with Echo Bridge Home Entertainment for domestic DVD distribution of the studio's additional 251 titles. In March 2014 though, Echo Bridge lost the distribution rights to those titles allowing Lionsgate to obtain complete access to the Miramax catalog. 1st Logo (1994-August 30, 2005) Nicknames: "The M", "Big M", "Flashing M", "Miramax M" Logo: Same as the 1987 logo, although the logo is now on videotape and runs at a smoother frame rate, rendering it even more cheesy than before, and the text "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" replaces "FILMS". Variant: On the Criterion Collection DVD of Chasing Amy, the logo is stretched into 16:9 widescreen. FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: Same as the 1987 logo, but here the logo is now on videotape and runs at a smoother frame rate, which looks rather tacky. Music/Sounds: Same as the 1987 logo, but in muffled mono. Music/Sounds Variants: *On some Live Entertainment and Miramax Special Edition DVDs, there is a 5.1 surround version of the theme. *On rare occasions it is silent, like on the Criterion Collection DVD of Chasing Amy. Availability: Rare. It's seen on Miramax VHS and DVD releases of the era such as Four Rooms, the demo tape of Things to Do in Denver... When You're Dead, Good Will Hunting, and Pulp Fiction. Don't expect to see this on most Image Entertainment Laserdisc releases, like The Thief and the Cobbler (a.k.a. Arabian Knight). One of the last tapes in the U.S. to use this logo was the 1999 VHS of Monument Avenue. In the UK, this logo was used until 2005, as seen on a VHS copy of My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie. Also found on some promotional VHS releases of Miramax/Dimension properties such as Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Strangely, some copies of The Others have this logo. Early U.S. prints of Princess Monoke are rumored to have it. Scare Factor: Same as the 1987 logo. 2nd Logo (1999-2007) miramaxhome.JPG miramaxhomeentchicago.JPG|''Chicago'' variant Nicknames: "The Buildings", "Lights in the Big City", "Manhattan Skyline", "The City", "Miramax Skyline" Logo: Same as the 1998 movie logo, except it's videotaped and shot at a faster frame rate, and again, the text "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" replaces "FILMS". Variants: *There are videotaped and filmed versions. The former appears on most earlier releases, while the latter appears on the 1999 Demo VHS of Rogue Trader at the start of the film, and later DVDs from 2005-2007 (with the exception of the 2006 DVD of Tsotsi), such as the 2005 Collector's Series Director's Cut's DVDs of Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood and The Yards, among others. *On some releases, the logo is shown in 16:9 widescreen. *On the DVD of the 1996 Japanese film Shari Wi Dansu? (Shall We Dance?), the 4:3 version of the logo is stretched out to 16:9 rather than being cropped to those dimensions. *On a home video trailer for Chicago, a scene from the movie crossfades into the finished logo, which is now black with a glowing red outline. The first "A" resembles the "A" in the movie's title, and after a couple seconds it ripples out into another scene from the movie. This particular trailer can be seen on the 2003 DVD of Gangs of New York. *On early Blu-rays, the filmed version has the "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" text in a different font. *On the three Bionicle movies and at the end of In Search of Santa, the filmed version of the logo looks like is taken from the 35mm film which shakes a lot. **In order to have the prologue in Bionicle 2: Legends of Meta Nui, the variant plays as usual. Instead of fading out, it freezes and the background fades into the opening shot in which the logo slowly slides down to the water to become the reflection. Once the reflection ripples all the way out, the camera zooms faster to start the prologue. Trivia: See the "Miramax Films" page, and scroll down to the 4th logo. FX/SFX: Same as the 1998 logo. Music/Sounds: Usually silent, as per the 1998 logo. Music/Sounds Variants: *On some DVD releases and the VHS of Clerks: Uncensored (TV series), it uses the music from the previous logo. *The Bionicle version has the opening theme starting over it. *The In Search of Santa version has the closing theme ending partway over it. Availability: Can be found on Miramax video releases from 1999 to 2007. Oddly, it appears at the beginning of the 2004 VHS of In Search of Santa and the 2005 VHS of My Scene Goes Holywood: The Movie, but the DVD counterparts have the Miramax Family at the beginning. Final Note: Starting later on in 2007, Miramax DVD and Blu-ray releases just used the standard 1998 logo. Category:Home Entertainment Category:Defunct